Thanks to the generosity of community donors, the Dorchester General Hospital Foundation made a significant contribution to Shore Health System’s Balance Center. Foundation President Ida Jane Baker recently presented the organization’s donation, which, along with sponsorship of the 2008 Snow Ball, funded state of the art equipment used to diagnose and treat balance disorders.
The Balance Center, which is located at Dorchester General Hospital, is the only medical facility on the Eastern Shore dedicated to assessing and treating balance-related medical conditions. Under the medical direction of Morris Effron, MD, the Balance Center program focuses on evaluating and treating people with balance disturbances and dizziness, and individuals at risk for falls. The Dorchester General Hospital Foundation’s annual appeal raised close to $100,000 to purchase the Balance Center’s technological centerpiece, the SMART EquiTest®. This computerized system is used by specially trained physical therapists to evaluate balance based on a patient’s response to a series of physical cues. For some individuals, the same equipment is used during a course of specialized physical therapy.
The DGH Foundation is now appealing to the community for contributions that will support the newly opened Sleep Disorders Center at Dorchester General Hospital. The addition of two private sleep study rooms at Dorchester General Hospital expands the services of the Regional Sleep Disorders Center, which Shore Health System operates also at The Memorial Hospital at Easton.
Baker says, “The demand for sleep studies and the advances in medical technology have justified opening a branch of the Regional Sleep Disorders Center at Dorchester General Hospital. Sleep specialists, under the medical direction of pulmonologist Peter Whitesell, MD, can diagnose you while you sleep in one of the newly furnished bedroom suites.”
For more information about making a donation to the Dorchester General Hospital Foundation’s appeal for the Regional Sleep Disorders Center, contact Ida Jane Baker, 410-228-8182.